Wine from the Leaves and Stalks of the Grape. — The following is Dr. Maccul- loch's recipe for making this wine: — "The young leaves may be taken at any period from vines which have been cultivated for this pur- pose, and from which no fruit is expected. In other cases they may be obtained from the summer pruning. The tendrils and green shoots are equally useful. The claret vine may be cultivated for this purpose, in which case the wine will have a red colour. The leaves are best when young, and should not have at- tained more than half their growth; they should be plucked with their stems. In the neighbour-hood of London they require to be carefully washed to remove the taste of soot which so often adheres to them : sometimes that is insufficient. From sixty to eighty Ijounds of such leaves being introduced into a tub of sufficient capacity, seven or eight gal- lons of boiling water are to be poured on them, in which they are to infuse for twenty-four hours. The liquid being poured off, the leaves must be pressed in a press of considerable power; and being subsequently washed with an additional gallon of water, they are again submitted to the action of the press. The sugar, varj-ing from twenty-five to thirty I WIN ( 1133 ) WIN pounds, is then to be added to the mixed liquors, and the quantity being made up to ten gallons and a half, the process for makint^ gooseberry wine is to be followed. Although the water is here directed to be boiling hot, it must be remembered that it is immediately cooled down to that temperature which is most efficacious in extracting the several soluble in- gredients of the fruit." The following additional observations on this curious subject are extracted from the same author: — "The difference between young and old leaves is very great ; the former contain ten or twelve times the quantity of bitter that the latter do. The old leaves are unfit for the ferment. June is the proper time to pluck them ; at this season it is usual to remove leaves from the fruit-bearing vines, so that they may be easily procured ; but if vines should be grown for this sole XJurpose, as they may be in any waste place or hedgerow, being allowed to run wild and unpruned, it will be always easy to procure a sufficient quantity and in the best condition. In their very best state at least six pounds are required for two of sugar, and it is perhaps preferable to adopt eight and a half; though no rule can be absolute, such is the va- riation in the extractive produce of the leaves. In the progress of the fermentation, should the wine promise to be too sweet, from defect of ferment, it is quite easy to add a fresh infusion, so as to correct this defect by a renewal of the fermentation. Of the leaves it must be ob- served, as they scarcely yield anything to the press, they require to be infused in the water for some time before they are subjected to fermentation, and they seem to yield their soluble parts most readily to hot water, without any material alteration in the resxilt — a matter of no surprise because, though the water be ap- plied at the boiling heat, its temperature is immediately lowered. Tartar appears some- times to be a useful addition to the leaves of the claret- vine ; and it may be added in the proportion of half a pound or one pound to ten gallons of the must.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Wine from the Leaves and Stalks of the Grape. — The following is Dr. Macculloch's recipe for making this wine: — "The young leaves may be taken at any period from vines which have been cultivated for this purpose, and from which no fruit is expected. In other cases they may be obtained from the summer pruning. The tendrils and green shoots are equally useful. The claret vine may be cultivated for this purpose, in which case the wine will have a red colour. The leaves are best when young, and should not have attained more than half their growth; they should be plucked with their stems. In the neighbour-hood of London they require to be carefully washed to remove the taste of soot which so often adheres to them : sometimes that is insufficient. From sixty to eighty pounds of such leaves being introduced into a tub of sufficient capacity, seven or eight gallons of boiling water are to be poured on them, in which they are to infuse for twenty-four hours. The liquid being poured off, the leaves must be pressed in a press of considerable power; and being subsequently washed with an additional gallon of water, they are again submitted to the action of the press. The sugar, varj-ing from twenty-five to thirty WIN ( 1133 ) WIN pounds, is then to be added to the mixed liquors, aand the quantity being made up to ten gallons and a half, the process for makint^ gooseberry wine is to be followed. Although the water is here directed to be boiling hot, it must be remembered that it is immediately cooled down to that temperature which is most efficacious in extracting the several soluble ingredients of the fruit." The following additional observations on this curious subject are extracted from the same author: — "The difference between young and old leaves is very great ; the former contain ten or twelve times the quantity of bitter that the latter do. The old leaves are unfit for the ferment. June is the proper time to pluck them ; at this season it is usual to remove leaves from the fruit-bearing vines, so that they may be easily procured ; but if vines should be grown for this sole purpose, as they may be in any waste place or hedgerow, being allowed to run wild and unpruned, it will be always easy to procure a sufficient quantity and in the best condition. In their very best state at least six pounds are required for two of sugar, and it is perhaps preferable to adopt eight and a half; though no rule can be absolute, such is the variation in the extractive produce of the leaves. In the progress of the fermentation, should the wine promise to be too sweet, from defect of ferment, it is quite easy to add a fresh infusion, so as to correct this defect by a renewal of the fermentation. Of the leaves it must be observed, as they scarcely yield anything to the press, they require to be infused in the water for some time before they are subjected to fermentation, and they seem to yield their soluble parts most readily to hot water, without any material alteration in the result — a matter of no surprise because, though the water be applied at the boiling heat, its temperature is immediately lowered. Tartar appears sometimes to be a useful addition to the leaves of the claret- vine ; and it may be added in the proportion of half a pound or one pound to ten gallons of the must.

Cassell's dictionary of cookery